Nada, a down-on-his-luck construction worker, discovers a pair of special sunglasses. Wearing them, he is able to see the world as it really is: people being bombarded by media and government with messages like "Stay Asleep", "No Imagination", "Submit to Authority".

NYPD cop John McClane's plan to reconcile with his estranged wife, Holly, is thrown for a serious loop when minutes after he arrives at her office, the entire building is overtaken by a group of pitiless terrorists.